Fingernail bonnet



1942- F. SOMMERS FINOERNAH, BONNET Filed Nov. 17, 1941 I2021-M1$0101IP INVENTOR.

ATTOR/VEX Patented Oct. 6, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FINGERNAIL BONNET Florence Sommers, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application November 17, 1941, Serial No. 419,467

6 Claims.

The present invention relates to a bonnet for covering the nail of a finger.

More specifically the invention relates to a guard for shielding the fingernails after they have been polished by a manicurist or when if necessary to protect the nails from becoming broken when the hands are subject to work endangering them.

Among the more important objects of the invention are: to provide a fingernail hood which is more simple to manufacture, cheaper and easier to apply without smearing the polish during the application thereof; to provide a guard constructed from a stamping which is lighter and when applied leaves the bases of the finger tips exposed to work with; to provide a guard which will permit of a freer circulation of air around the fingernail and greater ease of inspection to ascertain when the nails are dry; and to provide a guard which has a greater range of interchangeability, thereby simplifying its adjustment or application to differently sized fingers without discomfort.

A further object of the invention is to provide a new method of manufacture for devices of the kind to which the invention pertains, whereby the body portion of the device may be shaped from a single piece of sheet material and then rapidly formed by its introduction to a set of suitable forming dies.

Other objects, advantages and features of construction will hereinafter appear.

Referring to the drawing wherein is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention;

Fig. l is a perspective view showing the device applied to a finger; and,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective View of the device per se, the view being the reverse of that shown in Fig. 1.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the three main parts of the embodiment of the fingernail bonnet illustrated in the drawing are the arcuate shield 5, and the two cooperating clamping members 6 and I carried by said shield to grip the finger Ii] the nail of which is to be protected by said shield. The clamping member 6 includes the arcuate jaw 8 and the resilient arm 9 whereby said jaw is supported from the shield 5; and the clamping member 1 includes the arcuate jaw H and the resilient arm I2 whereby said jaw is supported from said shield 5.

As is clearly shown in the drawing, all the foregoing parts are parts of a single sheet preferably sheet metal material. The shield 5 is shown symmetrically shaped and provided with a pair of twin openings I5 extending through it, these openings not only serving to admit additional air to dry the freshly polished nail, but being sufliciently large to provide for convenient inspection thereof. Below each opening l5 the shield 5 is shown having a downwardly directed wing I6, these Wings being somewhat incurved toward each other, and being sufficiently spaced apart from each other to insure that, when the device is in the applied position, there will at all times be a considerable clearance between the inner side of each wing and the part of the fingernail adjacent thereto.

The arcuate jaw 8 of the clamping member 6, adjacent to its juncture with its supporting arm 9, carries an operating projection [1 which is arranged to cooperate with a somewhat similar projection l8 carried by the opposite clamping member I. These two projections are of the nature of outstruck flanges which normally diverge from each other, the flange I! having a basal bend [9 which is directed away from a more sharply defined bend 2| formed in the basal part of the flange H3. The bend i9 is thus arranged to form a fulcrum for the bent part 2| so that when the diverging flanges I1 and 18 are forcibly gripped between the thumb and a finger of the user the jaws 8 and II will be spread farther apart.

Normally the approximately circular space included between the jaws 8 and -l I will be definitely less than the cross sectional size of the smallest finger to which the device is designed to be applied. Therefore the user, by first spreading apart said jaws by forcibly gripping the projections I! and 18, may then place the spread apart jaws astride the finger to which the device is to be applied, and then by relaxing his grip of said projections allow the clamping elements, by reason of their resiliency, firmly to grip the finger between them. In performing this operation it is not necessary to project the finger between the clamping jaws in an endwise manner (which action might mar newly applied polish), but the free ends of the jaws may be separated from each other to such an extent that the finger may be passed between them in a lateral manner.

In manufacturing the device, after the blank for the device has been stamped from a fiat sheet of material, then, by one or more die operations, the metal or other sheet out of which the device is being formed will be bent into a generally semi-cylindrical shape and the jaws 8 and H arcuated. The members 6 and I may then be drawn toward each other to provide for the fuleruming of one of their flanged portions upon that of the other. At any convenient time during these forming operations the flanges l1 and !3 will be bent into the shapes wherein the basal portion of one of said flanges form a fulcrum for the basal portion of the other flange. During the operation of indrawing the arms 9 and [2 they are properly stressed to act as torsional springs in relation respectively to the jaws 8 and I I. The aforesaid stressing will cause the jaws 8 and H normally to assume the relative positions best shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing, wherein they include between them a space somewhat less than that which will be 00,-.

cupied by the finger to be gripped. The arms 9 and i2 will in view of the stress'set up in the arms 9 and I2 exert the desired clamping action upon the inserted finger. When the flanges I1 and I3 are insprung in the direction as indicated by the arrows adjacent them the jaws 8 and M will be outsprung in the directions indicated by the arrows near their extremities sufiiciently to admit the finger laterally between them, thus avoiding the objectionable necessity of inserting the finger axially of the device.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the subject matter claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. A fingernail bonnet consisting of a nail shield, a pair of cooperative clamping jaws positioned to engage opposite sides of a finger to which the device is to be applied, resilient arms whereby said jaws are supported by said shield in a spaced relation thereto, and a pair of spaced apart extensions carried by the device, said extensions, when forced close to each other, imparting to said arms a tortional movement which increases the distance between said jaws sufiiciently to admit the finger between them.

2. The subject matter of claim 1 and, said clamping members being of sheet metal and said extensions consisting of flanges formed upon said sheet metal.

3. A sheet metal fingernail bonnet consisting of an arcuate end portion to house the fingernail, a pair of arms which project from one of the long edges of said arcuate portion, said arms being located at opposite sides of the midlength of the arc, two arcuate cooperating finger clamping jaws, said arms respectively being united to the basal portion of said jaws and normally supporting said jaws spaced apart from each other a less space than that required to contain the finger to be clamped between them, each of said jaws carrying a flange which extends outwardly from its basal portion, said flanges being in an adjacent outwardly diverging relation to each other and being collectively manually grippable to apply a tortional force to the jaws and thus separate them from each other a distance greater than the thickness of the finger to be gripped between them.

4. The subject matter of claim 3 and, the basal portion of one of said flanges being so bent as to form a concavity or groove extending across it and the basal portion of the other flange being so bent as to form a convexity or bead extending across it, said bead abutting against said groove to fulcrum the flanges in relation to each other when their diverging portion are forced toward each other.

5. In a fingernal bonnet, a sheet metal shield shaped to shelter a freshly polished fingernail, a pair of cooperative finger clamping members each consisting of an arcuate jaw and of a single supporting strip of sheet metal which extends from said shield, normally the arcs of said jaws closely approaching each other at one side of the device and being more widely separated at the opposite side thereof, said clamping members carrying projections for being manually acted upon to force still farther apart the widely separated parts of the arc thus permitting a lateral movement into the space between said jaws of a finger to be gripped between them.

6. A fingernail bonnet consisting of a single piece of resilient sheet metal bent into a partly cylindrical form wherein the resulting partial cylinder is of an open character from end to end along one side, one end portion of this open sided cylinder being shaped to form a fingernail shelter and the opposite end portion thereof being longitudinally split for a short distance adjacent to its extremity and having a spacious aperture through it adjacent to said split, the metal adjacent to each side of said split being outwardly directed thus forming a pair of diverging flanges and farther from said split being shaped at each side to form a finger-gripping jaw, the metal also being so bent as to cause the basal portion of one of said flanges to serve as a fulcrum for that of the other so that by forcing the outer ends of said flanges toward each other said jaws may be outswung sufiiciently to admit between them the finger to be gripped.

FLORENCE SOMMERS. 

